Aussie 'old blokes' seek one last demolition of England

Australia's Ashes squad contains only one player younger than 30 - but serial winners will still fancy their chances

- RICHARD JOLLY

There was a simplicity to the statement. Australian cricket has a capacity for straight talking and Dan Christian, the all-rounder who came out of retirement last winter to figure in the Big Bash in his forties, tended to justify the presence of veterans in four words: “Old blokes win stuff”. It was his philosophy in Twenty20 tournaments and he won them in four different countries, often in his late thirties.

Since then, it is an attitude that seems to have spread across Australian cricket. Young blokes are conspicuous by their absence. When Australia last played a Test at home, it was without anyone in their twenties: the teenager Sam Konstas was accompanied by 10 thirtysomethings. When they named their squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth, Konstas was dropped, the 31-year-old Jake Weatherald selected and the 26-year-old Cameron Green was the only man below 30, joined by 14 of his elders. The Cameron Green generation consists of only Cameron Green.

This clearly presents a long-term problem. The immediate issue is if it is a shortcoming that will lead to them losing the Ashes; if Australia are an old team or the team of old. Two of Australia’s greatest batters, Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh, have sounded the warning about the lack of change. Chappell played until he was 35, making 182 in his final innings. Waugh bowed out at 38 with 80. Now, with seven of the probable 11 in Perth at least 34, the question is if their successors can resist both the passing of time and the England team with similar defiance.